Conservative Edge Challenges Harper, Northup

The Conservative Edge is issuing a challenge to Anne Northup and Billy Harper to take our Merit Hiring Pledge as stated below. We will publish any response that either candidate cares to issue to our pledge.

1) Pledge that if elected, that neither they (nor any non-merit employee that they hire) will hire, nor in any way promote, endorse, or refer, a family member by birth or marriage to three degrees of sanguinity, member of the same political party, friend, campaign worker, former constituent or campaign contributor to any merit system job at anytime during their term or terms as Governor.

2). Pledge that if elected, neither they (nor any non-merit employee they hire) will set up any sort of "constituent outreach program" in any form whatsoever, even though the Executive Branch Ethics Commission has deemed such programs, like Governor Fletcher's LINK program, ethical.

3). Pledge that if elected that neither they (nor any non-merit employee that they hire) will take any action of any kind whatsoever to discipline, fire, demote, transfer, decrease salary or in any other way make the job any less enjoyable to any merit system employee of the opposite political party, even if that employee is using his merit system job responsibilities and or duties (including but not limited to directing their subordinates to enage in such activities) to directly or indirectly undermine for partisan political gain, any program, iniative, policy or other public official duty of the candidate once in office. This pledge goes to the heart of the allegations raised by Attorney General Greg Stumbo about the Fletcher Administration.

Therefore, if the two GOP candidates are critical of the Governor over the merit hiring scandal, they should pledge not to do the things that Fletcher is accused of doing. In other words, they should pledge not to things that are perfectly legal. IF they won't take the pledge, they should stop critcising the Governor.